Too many white flags being waved in tackles

The surrender tackle threatens to reach epidemic proportions in the NRL, and this is largely in response to the new rule prohibiting hands on the ball in the tackle.

The practice of ball carriers diving at the legs of tacklers - a voluntary tackle - is designed to produce a fast play-the-ball and capitalise on momentum gained against a retreating, disordered defence. It was in widespread use by some clubs from 1999 to 2005, and referees responded to it by allowing tacklers to roll the ball carrier on his back, punishing his attempt at a fast play-the-ball with a slow one.

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Also called the ''bumper bar'' tackle, it is against the very nature of rugby league as a collision or combat sport.

We saw little evidence of it in the first State of Origin match, mainly because the selected players pride themselves on the full-blooded clash between the attack and the defence. This year, the submit tackle has made a comeback because of the hands-on-the-ball-in-the-tackle rule. Referees boss Daniel Anderson signalled faster rucks even before the season began with a rule prohibiting hands on the ball while the attacking player is trying to rise to his feet to play the ball.

Sports Data reports 169 penalties this season for hands in the play-the-ball, compared with 94 at the same point last year. It is a good rule, as it stands, so to speak. An attacking player, seeking to play the ball quickly but restricted by defenders' hands on the ball, is likely to juggle it, lose possession and be punished for what is called ''a loose carry''.

Alternatively, if he goes into the tackle with his hands bound vice-like around the ball, waiting for defenders to release their grip, it inevitably slows down the speed at which he can play it.

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However, this year, ball carriers are exploiting the new rule.

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By diving at the legs of defenders, the ball carrier knows the tackler must risk hands on the ball if he tries to slow down the ruck. He must reach down to pull the ball carrier up by his arms and shoulders and dance with him a little while he buys time for the defence but risks handling the ball and being penalised.

Surrender tackles, if left unchecked, could result in frustration, such as the ''crusher tackle'', where the defender jumps on the back of the ball carrier, forcing his head and neck down on the ball. The Roosters and Souths are major exponents of the surrender tackle, with Canberra and Penrith also guilty of it.

It is most evident when Souths forwards run the ball against opposition outside backs. Should it continue unchecked, expect all NRL teams to adopt this tackle. They go largely unnoticed and unpunished week after week. When surrender tackles were rare, they were obvious, and referees responded by deeming it a dominant tackle and allowing defenders to slow down the play-the-ball.

But now, with it becoming commonplace, referees are seemingly blind to this tackle. There are occasions when it is justified. A winger or fullback, carrying the ball back from a kick can run dangerously close to the sideline, and is entitled to fall to his knees before the tackle to avoid being dragged over the sideline.

Another of Anderson's initiatives in his campaign for faster rucks was to demand defenders separate themselves from the tackled player in two stages.

If there are three in a tackle and one defender moves away, it is obligatory for the remaining two to simultaneously release themselves. Given the tangle of bodies in tackles, this was never practicable. Asked whether the rule had ''gone out the window'', one NRL coach said, ''It never came through the door.''

Sports Data statistics demonstrate that the number of three-man tackles has increased this season.